Welcoming Our Shorebirds

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

– Albert Einstein

The both of the above pictures are of Eyak lake, the top most picture was when the lake was frozen and covered in snow in March-Early April. Today, the lake is full of life (the picture below it). I commonly see buffleheads, bald eagles, and barrow’s goldeneyes out on the lake. During an owl survey along this lake we also heard a Wilson’s snipe!

Last week and this week have been very busy here in Cordova, AK. Preparing for the shorebird festival and my shorebird surveys have got me running all over the office and in town! I finally was able to start driving the federal vehicle and visited my study sites during the last week of April before starting my surveys.

These are two of my study sites. On the top is 3 Mile Bay and below is Hartney Bay. I visited my sites to get familiar with the area and the tidal changes before I started my surveys.

When I was not in the field I was in the office planning and prepping for the shorebird window murals I was helping the Girl Scouts paint in the library. Here are some pictures of the shorebirds we painted to Welcome incoming flocks as we prepare for the Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival. The girls got very creative and requested pink and purple to express their love for shorebirds! There were 11 Girl Scouts, and since it was after school a few girls that were in the library at the time joined us too! We had lots of fun.